-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- As nearly 600 days under siege sap the life and dignity out of the Old District in the Syrian city of Homs -- leaving malnourished men with legs like noodles and soot-stained children to dig through homes turned into rubble for bits of firewood -- diplomats in a picturesque Swiss city bicker over aid .

`` The situation is unbearable and inhuman . Food , there is none . Medical supplies , there is none . Milk for children , there is none . It is beyond words . '' Mohammed Abu Yahay tells CNN through a crackly Skype connection .

Diplomats at the Geneva II peace negotiations in the Swiss city reached a yet to be executed deal to evacuate some women and children , according to United Nations mediator Lakhdar Brahimi , but for those affected , the meek agreement is little more than a consolation prize .

'' We will fill our stomach with stones . We do n't want to eat . We do not want your food or your aid supplies . We want to break the siege . There is nothing here anymore ! '' an angry resident yells in one of several social media videos posted online this week by activists hoping to draw attention to their plight .

The Geneva peace talks seemed to matter little to residents living on perpetually empty bellies who demanded all parties put aside their differences to break the almost two-year siege of Homs rather than agree to a temporary solution from a reluctant regime .

'' We ask Geneva to break the siege and make us safe roads and get us out of here . I need an urgent operation on my leg . ... We have been around one year and eight months under the siege , and also we do n't want Ban Ki-moon ... to be worried about us anymore . They have been worrying for more than a year and seven months . Poor them , '' an elderly man with crutches sarcastically says in a video posted on social media websites .

The International Committee of the Red Cross also urged more action , saying that while the aid organization welcomes the agreement to evacuate women and children from the Old City , `` a one-shot evacuation will not solve all the problems on the ground , '' adding that `` it is very crucial to allow impartial humanitarian aid into Homs , '' Dibeh Fakhr , an ICRC spokesman , told CNN Monday .

The appeals appeared to fall on deaf ears , as the opposition Syrian National Coalition and the Syrian government delegation complained to the media Monday about the failures of the other party .

Inside Syria 's most dangerous city

The United States blamed the Syrian government for the dire situation , accusing it of waging a `` kneel or starve campaign . ''

`` The regime is blocking all convoys of aid to Homs , and has been doing so for months . The U.N. with the Red Cross has been trying to get aid these aid convoys through to the city of Homs ; the regime is blocking it . The situation is extremely urgent . Anything the regime says to the contrary is wrong , '' a senior U.S. official told CNN .

As the bitter winter cold retains its hold on the restive city , activists and residents say starvation and the lack of basic medical care claim lives regularly as Syrian troops and some opposition forces prevent the delivery of aid , according to a report from Human Rights Watch last month .

`` Protein , all types of vitamins , vegetables , fruits -- all this is has been extremely scarce over the past eight to 10 months . So for children above the age of 2 and the elderly above 60 , they are most vulnerable to the symptoms of malnutrition , and this is where we see the highest rates of mortality . '' Dr. Mashwan Abo Abdu a neurologist residing in the Old City told CNN .

Tree leaves , grass , olives and stale grain are all that 's on the menu at many homes in the old districts of Homs , where many residents say they struggle to get just one meal a day on the table while loved ones with preventable diseases languish in a makeshift medical clinic with `` medieval health care . ''

`` The world must help us ; they ca n't watch us drown in a sea of suffering , pain and death and do nothing after more than one and a half years of being under siege '' the Rev. Frans , a Dutch Jesuit and longtime Syrian resident , said in broken Arabic on social media .

Months after the start of an uprising against the government of President Bashar al-Assad , the western city and once-thriving industrial center gave birth to an armed rebellion . That triggered a brutal Syrian troop bombardment in what human rights groups called an act of collective punishment on the city .

Over the course of several months , Syrian forces , backed by Hezbollah militants , moved in on the so-called capital of the revolution . They pushed insurgents out of one neighborhood after another until troops established a chokehold around the neighborhoods of Old Homs , separating the district from the Khalidiya area and wresting control of the strategic border city of al-Qusayr .

The approximately 3,000 people left behind suffered in silence for months without a single international aid convoy or international observer breaching the siege as food and medical stores dwindled along with the calcium in children 's bones , the milk in mothers ' breasts , and the protein in fathers ' muscles .

`` I have personally seen so many infants die due to lack of adequate treatment or professional care because we have no pediatricians , incubators , or obstetricians . So from the moment a child is conceived , they suffer under this siege , '' said Dr. Abo Ramez , who along with colleagues , issued a list of needed medical supplies to the international community , including powdered milk for infants and vials of electrolytes .

In the gray ruins of the Old City , a simple fall may shatter a child 's thin , malnourished bones , and stunted toddlers smile with teeth blackened by decay as they play hide-and-seek . Doctors tell CNN that without intervention from the international community , `` more people will die . ''

`` I think that there is a lack of pressure from the international community on the barbaric regime . It is inhuman that they are fighting us over a loaf of bread . Cutting of water , electricity , and preventing any aid organization from entering . This situation reflects poorly on the international community to help these besieged areas , '' Ramez said .

Palestinian refugees starving to death in Syrian camp , human rights groups say

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The Old City of Homs in Syria has been under siege for nearly two years

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Food and medical supplies have been cut off , leaving hungry , angry residents behind

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The Geneva peace talks produced a small deal to evacuate women and children

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`` We do not want your food or your aid supplies . We want to break the siege , '' resident says